tim6 (6 of 6)

What's left of Todd Kluever's car from the 2006 ARCA race at Daytona is on display in the Roush Fenway Racing Museum. (Tim Terry photo)

What's left of Todd Kluever's car from the 2006 ARCA race at Daytona is on display in the Roush Fenway Racing Museum. (Tim Terry photo)

On a quiet Monday night while doing some laps on iRacing, I got a message from Cole Boudreau.

“Do you want to go to North Carolina? If so, call Mike.”

After spinning early in the Late Model race at the virtual South Boston, I gave Cole’s father Mike Boudreau a call.

Mike explained how he and Cole were looking at making the trip to Rockingham, North Carolina to take part in the annual Spooktacular Bandolero race at Little Rock.

With it being a 23-hour drive from Chipman, N.B. to Mooresville, N.C., Mike was looking for a driver to split time en route to the heart of stock car racing country.

It didn’t take me long to say “count me in.”

After 26 hours and change on the road from Halifax, I found myself in Mooresville, North Carolina with the Boudreaus.

After checking into the hotel, we made our way to the Chris Woods Racing and Repair shop in Kannapolis — roughly 20-minutes from Mooresville.

When we got out of our car and made our way into the garage, I heard a voice from behind saying “Is that Tim Terry?” The voice was that of Amherst transplant Ryan Mackintosh.

Mackintosh got his racing start in go-karts at regional tracks before moving up to the Bandolero division at Scotia Speedworld, a time in which current Legend and Pro Stock stars Brad Eddy, Dylan Blenkhorn, Shelby Baker and Cole Butcher were the top dogs in the class at the Enfield.

The Chris Woods shop is not much different from many race shops you’ll see of teams around this area as they prepare for a Friday night at Speedworld and, like many of those shops up here, Chris Woods (or ‘Woody’ as he’s called in N.C. racing circles) has produced lots of speed with the cars that have rolled through his doors which have produced many checkered flags in his career.

The next morning started out in Mooresville as we began our journey at DC Classic Cars to visit some beautiful street rods and muscle cars. From there we made a trip to Roush Yates Performance Products, Simpson Racing, and CV Racing Products.

I’ve heard drivers around here buying products from Roush Yates Performance and now I can see why. Rows upon rows of shelves and racks of racing parts and products, featuring everything from bolts to steering wheels to rear ends to safety gear — all at very affordable prices (I picked up a radio belt for $2).

Our next stop was the Jeff Hammond store to check out some FOX Sports memorabilia and other NASCAR items; we also got to take a look in the back of the shop where Hammond’s cutaway car from NASCAR on FOX broadcasts sat. As diehard as some movie memorabilia collectors can be, it was pretty neat to see a car that has seen its share of bright lights on Sunday afternoons.

After leaving Hammonds shop, we took a brief drive down the road and visited JR Motorsports and Tommy Baldwin Racing.

Our next stops included Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and Stewart Haas Racing. The DEI building was a tribute to Dale Earnhardt Sr. Checkered flags and banners of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season adorn the walls of the shop while cars of Stewart, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick sit on the showroom floor for fans to get a close look at.

The highlight of the day was a trip to Roush Fenway Racing, where we met up with Prince Edward Island native, Wayne Gaudet. Gaudet moved stateside in the ’90s and, in 2013, will move to the Research and Development department of the team that fields Sprint Cup Series cars for Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and two-time Nationwide Series champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who replaces 2012 Daytona 500 champion, Matt Kenseth, who moves to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013.

The busiest part of the sprawling complex was the body shop where Gaudet said the team had already taken on a rigorous winter schedule in order to get ready for Daytona.

In 2013, NASCAR is changing its Sprint Cup car, meaning teams are having to prepare new cars for the kickoff of the car in February. While the ‘greenhouse’ portion of the car (midsection of the vehicle) is changing little, the surrounding area is getting a make-over, including the introduction of carbon fibre decklid and hood pieces. Gaudet said in the ballpark of 70 cars would have to be ready by February to get the team to the first few events of the new season.

We left Roush Fenway shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday and, following a quick stop at Racing Electronics to shop for radio related items, we were on the way out of Concord.

While Cole and Mike headed back to Woody’s to get Cole ready for the Spooktacular, I went back to Mooresville where I met up with fellow long-time online racing broadcaster (and the voice of the UARA Stars Late Model Tour) Tony Stevens. We killed the night watching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Phoenix at a TGI Friday’s in Charlotte and shooting the breeze about racing from Nova Scotia to North Carolina.

Saturday brought a 6 a.m. wake-up for a ride to Little Rock Speedway. Little Rock is about an hour or so away from Woody’s racing shop through the winding county roads in North Carolina.

Rockingham Speedway was resurrected by former ARCA Re/Max Series champion Andy Hillenburg in 2007 and has seen huge growth in the 2012 season, which included the return of NASCAR to the facility with a Camping World Truck Series race at the facility this past April.

The Spooktacular weekend was held on the heels of the ‘Classic 3 Championship’ weekend which saw titlists crowned in the NASCAR K&N East Series, UARA Stars, and Frank Kimmel Street Stock National Series.

Hillenburg is very much involved in the track and in the stars of the future when it comes to Legends and Bandoleros. Many track owners find themselves sitting back and watching the action on race day, but Andy was busier than that on Saturday and Sunday.

The 49-year old conducted the Drivers’ Meeting in the morning, directed traffic to and from the pit area during practice, and even flagged the racing on the weekend. Hillenburg has worked hard to bring the facility back and continues to work hard for the drivers and teams who race there throughout the year.

Little Rock Speedway’s Legend and Bandolero oval is a 1/4-mile track within the 1/2-mile track, which is situated behind the back straightaway of the one-mile oval that the Sprint Cup Series formerly ran on. My first impression on the 1/2-mile was that it reminded me of Oyster Bed Speedway with the high-banked corners and no wall around the first two corners. With Cole never seeing the track before, he did not have long to get accustomed.

Like he has done many times through the 2012 Canadian INEX Outlaw Bandolero championship season, he was fast right off the trailer as he was seventh quickest out of 24 Bandoleros in the first practice. Cole would pick up a few tenths before European Style Qualifying, where he clocked in fourth for the Spooktacular Outlaw Division Feature.

Cole fell back on the outside line on the start of the first 40-lap segment of the Spooktacular, but methodically worked his way up to third and was gunning for second at the 30-lap mark when he got into the dirt battling Seth Werner for the bridesmaid spot. The ensuing spin put the Chipman, New Brunswick driver back to the rear of the pack in 12th and worked to sixth at the halfway break — passing six cars in 10 laps; an impressive feat considering the depth of competition in the class.

When Cole pulled into the pits for the halfway break, he explained how the car was handling over the first 40-lap segment. “The car is loose, but it’s unlike any other car I’ve ever driven. When the car gets loose and it feels like it’s about to go around, the car corrects itself and I don’t lose a ton of ground. We’re going to make small adjustments on it, but I like the way it’s handling.”

Cole started sixth in the second half of the Spooktacular and picked his spots wisely during the final 40 laps, working up from the sixth place position to finish fourth. The second half didn’t come without some paint being swapped as Cole and Georgia’s Jensen Jorgensen got into it battling hard for a spot in the closing lap, which sent the 3x car around. The Spooktacular was won by John Holleman IV, a veteran Bandolero driver from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who raced full time at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2012 in a Street Stock, placing second at the historic race track.

After a stop at Woody’s shop to drop off the trailer, it was back to Mooresville where we stopped for supper at Golden Corral before hitting the pillow again with another 6 a.m. wake-up call and a trip to ‘The Rock’ on the flipside.

When the trailer landed again at Rockingham on Sunday, two cars rolled out. Not only was Cole running the #03 Bandolero, Mackintosh was also anxious to get out on track in his #03 NorthEastLegends.com Semi Pro Legend car for not only the Semi-Pro feature, but also the Shootout race at the conclusion of the festivities, which would see $300 go to the winner of the 25-lap race.

While Cole was searching for speed on Sunday, Ryan was quick out of the box. Like many others, Mackintosh had raced on the track previously prior to Sunday, including starts on the 1/2-mile in his Allison Legacy Car. Ryan qualified fourth for the Semi-Pro race and with the ‘roll of the dice,’ an invert prior to the feature put Mackintosh on the pole. That first position is something Mackintosh would bookend in during the 20-lap feature by taking the victory in a very competitive field of Legend cars. The win was Mackintosh’s fourth major Legend car victory of the season and he was looking to fill the hand in the Legends Shootout at the end of the day.

Cole put his Bandolero ride in the fifth spot in qualifying on Sunday for the main feature. A shorter field of a dozen Bandolero Outlaws were at Little Rock to answer the call to the green on Sunday and while Cole had been waiting for his chance to run to the front, he had contact from behind from the Hannah Bell #05 entry, which spun Boudreau out in Turn One. Laps later, the #03 was around again in Turn Two, this time bringing out a yellow flag, which prompted Hillenburg to leave the starters stand in one of the only times he did so during racing conditions to talk to Cole. When asked what Hillenburg talked to Cole about, he said “It was something along the lines of, ‘I’m a racer and I probably would have done the same thing (spun to bring out a yellow flag), just don’t do it again.’” Cole would rally to finish sixth in his second feature of the weekend at Little Rock.

The Legends Shootout, or what was called “the Money race” at the track that day, saw Mackintosh qualify third out of 24 Legend cars. It was evident the speed of the Semi-Pro race winner would be hard to top but the #03 had plenty of competition in the opening laps of the race. In the opening 10 laps or so, the lead changed hands almost every lap in easily one of the best Legend car races I have seen all season (and I’ve been to 46 races throughout Atlantic Canada this season). During some of the breathtaking racing in the early laps, some contact was made which knocked a bolt off the brakes on the Mackintosh ride, ending his afternoon early.

While our racing adventure at the track was over, the trip was far from over. On the way home from Rockingham, we listened to the Sprint Cup Series race from Phoenix on MRN and heard the turning points of the season when not only Jimmie Johnson got into the wall but also the infamous tilt between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon.

When we got back to Woody’s, we got to see the video and the first thought that came to my mind was that NASCAR stole the storyline from our 2012 edition of the IWK 250 when the Darren Mackinnon/Wayne Smith feud escalated to the point of flying fists.

Also awaiting us at Woody’s was a beautiful ham supper Christi had prepared while we were at the track. Joining us for supper was Christi’s son, Daniel Hemric, and his girlfriend, Kenzie Ruston. For those who are short track fans, those two names will be quite familiar. Hemric was the winner of the inaugural Legends Million race a few seasons ago at Charlotte and has since gone on to win the JEGS/CRA All Stars Tour in 2012. Ruston has been piling up an impressive resume as well and is coming off a second-place season in the ARCA/CRA Super Series.

We talked about Pro Stock/Super Late Model racing and rules and even our local Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour came up in conversation when talking about the IWK 250 and the independent Speedway 660 staple show, the Auto Value 250. “I’ve heard about those big shows through Keith (Mackintosh, Ryan’s father) and Andrew (Hicken),” said Hemric, when it came up in conversation. Hemric knows Hicken through his work down south with Jeff Fultz and his Super Late Model team, while Hicken may be more known on this side of the border in recent seasons with his work on various Pro Stock teams through the Pictou-based, King Racing.

Following the supper and our bench racing, we parted ways for the night. We made the trek back to Mooresville for the night to get some sleep before departing the hotel around 7 a.m. Monday morning. After an all-day, all-night drive, I found myself back in Truro at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and back at my desk in Halifax that evening to call the NASCAR iRacing Pro Series event that evening.

That concludes the racing portion of my 2012 season. The events at Little Rock served as races #45 and #46 I have been to, which doesn’t include three demolition derby events in Truro, three practice days, and three banquets, with the last of the 2012 season coming in January in Fredericton.

A couple weeks after that Speedway 660 banquet, I’ll be on the move back south for the INEX Winter Nationals which take place in Auburndale, Florida with at least seven Atlantic Canadian teams expected to go for glory from Feb. 18-22.

Who said that racing season stops for our Maritime teams?

Until next time, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!

About the Author

When it comes to Maritime motorsports, Tim is one of the busiest men in the business. He is the series voice of the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour and can be heard every Friday night in the summer at Scotia Speedworld. In addition, Tim covers the regional racing action on his website TimsCorner.ca, where he hosts a weekly podcast covering results and interviewing winners from the top short track races in the region. Tim can be seen at over 40 races a year with a microphone in hand!

To comment or view comments on this article, please LOGIN or SUBSCRIBE